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THE IIUTHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH SOUTH. 



SPEECH 



HON. WM. B. BATE, 



OK I^ENNESSBEi, 



SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES, 



Tuesday, March 8, 1898. 



V»^JVSHINGXOI»J. 
1898. 






33X 









«^'-" 



73005 



SPEECH 

Ob" 

HON. WM B. BATE. 



The Senate, as in Committee of the Whole, having under consideration 
the bill (H. R. 4829) for the relief of the Book Agents of the Methodist Epis- 
copal Church South — 

Mr. BATE said: 

Mr. President: It is not my purpose to go into any lengthy dis- 
cussion of this matter. The point at issue just now, as I under- 
stanil, is whether the Senate will send this claim to the Court of 
Claims. 

Perhaps we had better understand the situation before we give 
our votes. I understand that this particular claim has some four 
or five times been passed ux)on by the committees of the House 
favorably: that it has been passed upon favorably, except in one 
instance an adverse report was made in the Senate some twenty- 
five years ago. There was a report some twenty years ago by the 
Senator from Colorado [Mr. Teller] and another report by the 
Senator from Alabama [Mr. Morgan] , both of whom are still 
here as Senators. One report was favorable and the other unfavor- 
able; it was a minority report perhaps by the Senator from Ala- 
bama to that report. 

Mr. MORGAN. I made the majority report. 

Mr. BATE. The Senator from Alabama made the majority re- 
port. I stand corrected. 

It is true, as stated by the Senator from Connecticut [Mr. 
Platt] , that there has been a bill or resolution passed here once 
or twice directing the claim to be sent to the Court of Claims. 
Remember, sir, this church has be«n struggling now for more than 
twenty-five years for the purpose of securing this claim, which 
they regard as a just one and not a gratuity, as has been said by 
the Senator from Connecticut. It is not a gratuity at all. 

Those in favor of this bill, and those gentlemen who are pro- 
moting the measure and who are really the parties interested in it 
at home — the Methodists, as a church — hold that it is an obliga- 
tion which the United States owes them and should long since 
have been paid. They were modest about presenting it for 
four or five years, but when it came to be understood, as has been 
so well said by the Senator from Massachusetts [Mr. Hoar], that 
there was an appreciation of the charity and liberal sentiment 
that was going on in this country. Congress changed its idea and 
now recognizes what might be termed international law, that 
all institutions of an educational and charitable nature shall be 
free from occupation by any hostile army that should make an 
incursion upon the territory of any Government in a civilized 
country. 

In other words, it is an appreciation of that as a doctrine of 
civilized warfare; and hence the idea that prevailed at the time 
reports were made by the Senators from Colorado and Alabama 



has changed, as has been shown to you by the Senator from Mas- 
sachusetts. 

I think that the same principle was approved during the war 
by Mr. Lincoln himself. I find in 'looking over the records of 
this bill that there was an order known as Order No. 100. They 
show that — 

Under Order No. 100, prepared with great care liy Francis Liebor. LL. D., 
revised by a board of olHcers. of which Maj. Gen. E. A. Hitclicoik was presi- 
dent. ap])roved liy President Lincoln, and promulgated by the Adjutant- 
General on the U'4th of April, 180:5— 

Which was prior to this transaction — 
"the property belonging to churches" — 

"Churches,"' mark you, is the word used in this very order, 
this Order No. 100. which was approved l»y Mr. Lincoln, showing 
that they then appreciated civilized warfare just as has been 
described by the Senator from Massachusetts. This order pro- 
vided that — 

" the property belonging to churches, to hospitals, or other establishments 
of an exclusively charitable character; establishments of education or foun- 
dations for the promotion of knowledge, whether public school.s, universi- 
ties, academies of learning, museums of the fine arts, or of a scientific char- 
acter,"' was exempt from the hostilities of war. 

Then there should have been no seizure of this church property. 
But I am not going into that branch of it, except to say that it is 
decided by our courts that a corporation is not a subject of con- 
fiscation, and this publishing house was a corporation. 

The Senator from Connecticut has already spoken of and pre- 
sented the charter. It is a chartered institution, and as such 
under the laws of this country, as was decided by our Supreme 
Court, growing out, if I recollect aright, of the order of General 
Butler in New Orleans in the case of the bark Venice, that after 
an order was issued, such an order as was issued in this instance 
by General Buell, giving protection to property, such property 
could not be taken charge of and confiscated. The courts have 
decided that projierty of corporations is not confiscal)le at all, and 
this publishing house being a corporation, its property was not 
confiscable. 

When General Buell gave his .order, he gave that which, in this 
regard, might be considered a pioneer order. If there was any 
other similar order during our war, prior to the one referred to 
given by General Buell. I am not aware of it. I want to say in 
this connection, parenthetically, that it had more vital effect there 
upon tho.se with whom I was associated as Confederates than any 
other military order issued. No battle was ever fought upon our 
Tennessee soil, and there were many fought there— Shiloh, Stone 
River, Murfreesboro, and Franklin, and all tho.se mighty battles — 
yet. sir, I say no battle was ever fought there that gave the moral 
force to the Union cause that this order issued by Don Carlos 
Buell gave. 

It came at an early time, and it was the first, the pioneer, of such 
military orders. It came at an early time, when our people were 
alarmed, when almost the whole country was Confederate in sen- 
timent. When he issued it, our people at home, old and young, 
were full of antagonism toward the Federal Army and avoided it. 
many of our nien going off to join the Confederate army who did 
not intend going before, because of the presence of the Federals; 
but when this order came from Buell it induced our people to 
believe that there would be protection to their property and to 
their persons. 
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It allayed to a great extent that excitement and softened that 
antagonism which had before existed. As I said, it was the most 
powerful battle, if I may so speak of this order, that was fovight 
for the Federal side. Permit me to read a few lines from the 
order, if you please, just here. I read the extract, but not in full. 
February 2G. 1863, Greneral Buell issued a proclamation, in which, 
among other things, he said: 

We are in arms not for the purpose of invading the rights of our fellow- 
countrymen anywhere, but to maintain the Union and protect the Constitu- 
tion. * * * Peaceable citizens are not to he mole-ted in their personal 
property; all wrongs to either are to be promptly corrected, and the offend- 
ers brought to punishment, etc. If the necessities of the piiblic service re- 
quire the use of private property for public purposes, compensation is to be 
allowed, etc. 

That was the first order of the kind. It was a direct announce- 
ment of the dcictiine spoken ol' b"-" the Senator from Massachu- 
setts, and laid down by the approval of Mr. Lincoln in (Jrder No. 
lOU. It went to the Army and it enlightened our people upon 
this subject I repeat, if I have been correctly informed by those 
who were at that time in that part of our State, if there was any 
one thing that had a tendency to paralyze the Confederate arms 
in Tennessee and to exert a happy influence upon the Federal 
cause in that part of the State where I live — and Nashville, where 
all this occurred, is my home — it was that very order. You find 
in some of their applications for loss of property here now they 
set forth that order of General Buell. 

Mr. CULLOM. Have you the Lincoln order there? 

Mr. BATE. Yes, sir; I have the Lincoln order. Shall I read it? 

Mr. CULLOM. I should like to hear it. 

Mr. BATE. I thank the Senator from Illinois for the sugges- 
tion. I will read it. 

The order was prepared by Francis Lieber, LL. D., and was ap- 
proved by Mr. Lincoln. 

Here is the order; 

The property belonging to churches, to hospitals, or other establishments 
of an exclusively charitoble character; establishments o^ education or fou nda- 
tions for the promotion of knowledge, whether public schools, univeitsities, 
academies of learning, museun\s of tine arts, or of a scientific character — 

was exempt from hostilities of war. 

Then the order of General Buell of which I have spoken was 
exactly upon that line, and that is in the line followed by all civ- 
ilized nations respecting their schools, their hospitals, and all 
other eleemosynary institutions or institutions of learning. Mr. 
Lincoln took that ground even when the clouds of prejudice were 
thick upon us. When passion prevailed and governed, this was 
overlooked, but when the mists of prejudices were wafted away 
and clear sunlight presented itself to the Congress and the country 
it was recognized. 

As the Senator from Massachusetts [Mr. Hoar] has said, when 
better times came we looked upon these matters in a different 
light, and such claims as this were favorably reported and con- 
sidered. 

I want to say a word especially for the benefit of the Senator 
from Connecticut [Mr. Platt), who seemed to think that passing 
this bill would be a sort of innovation, that we have in the Senate 
set examples and precedents of this kind time and again. I will 
read a few of them. I am not speaking of the claims now which 
were paid by the War Department, for there were quite a num- 
ber of claims paid by the War Department to institutions of this 
3108 



kind, but those paid directly by Congress precisely as the bill now 
pending proposes to do. Here are some of them: 

Kentucky University at Lexington, Ky., use, occupation, and in- 
jury ... $25,000.00 

Kentucky A^rifultural and Mechanical Association, use, occupa- 
tion, and injury 35,000.00 

East Tennessee University, use, occupation, and injury 18,500.00 

Univei-.sity of Alabama, for loss of Luildinj? bv fire during military 
operations, 4i),()S() acres of public land to be applied to the erec- 
tion of suitable buildings. 

William and Mary College, of Virginia, destroyed by fire immedi- 
ately after a conflict l)etween the Union and Confederate for(-es. 64,000.00 

Wa.slungton and Lee Uinversity. injury to building, apparatus, 
and libraries by soldiers without authority 17,848.00 

Protestant Episcopal Theologic^al Seminary, Alexandria, Va., use, 
occupation, and injury 20,000.00 

Roman Catholic Church of Charles County, Md., use, occupation, 
and injury 4,035.50 

Roman Catholic Church at Chattanooga, Tenn., for use and injury. 18,729.09 

Then there was the case of William S. Grant, of Portland, Me. 
Permit me to say that the present occupant of the chair [Mr. 
FitYE] was the Senator who had charge of this claim. Let me read 
it, if YOU ))lease. to show what the amount is, what it is for: and 
1 especially invite the attention of the Senator from Connecticut 
to this case: 

William S. Grant, Portland, Me., co.st of supplies $19,517.74 

Cost of oxen, horses, wagons, etc., captured in transportation 22, 5()3. 90 

Transportation to place of capture 35,909. 14: 

77,989.78 

What is the history of that claim? You all voted for it, and it 
was passed at a recent date — not two weeks since. 

In a nttmber of these cases the United States Government derived but a 
limited benefit; in others, none at ail. Take, for example, the claim of W. S. 
Gi'aut — 

Which I have just referred to— 

This was a case where Grant had contracted to deliver certain supi)li('sto the 
Federal troojjs in Arizona. They were captured in Texas en route bctvveea 
the port of Lavaca and Arizoiui. Tlie Confederacy was the beueticiary of 
this capture, and yet Congress within the last ten days has passed a bill direct- 
ing the jjayment of $77,989.;ii to Mr. Grant. 

Remember that in that case the Confederacy was the beneficiary 
of the capture: and, of coiu'se, in the case of this book concern 
the Government got the benefit of it. The other was the case of 
a Maine man going, I believe, from Corpus Christi to some place in 
Arizona whose oxen, horses, and teams were captured. Who got 
the benefit of Ihem? The Confederate government. This is the 
history of it. The Government of the United States paid him the 
other day .$7T,!tNU.7S. This Cii.se is not at all so meritorious as 
ours, because the United States Government did get the benefit 
of the i)roperty of the Methodist book concern, but not the prop- 
erty of Mr. Grant. 

Let me read to you what was said by one of the adjutants of 
General Thomas, and we must respect his opinion. He was Lieu- 
tenant-Colonel Wills, brevet colonel and assistant quartermaster. 
I mean to read, instead of commenting ui)on it, to show tlie fact 
that the Government got a (piid pro (pto, at least .S"3H''^.000. He 
is a man. mark you. who was on the staff of General Thomas. 
General Thomas issi;ed an order in December. I860. Pardon me 
when I say that the process for confiscation of this publishing 
house was then going on. 

The property had been libeled as early as May, 1862, but this 
order of General Thomas was given in December, 1863. As I have 
said, the property had been libeled and in process of confiscation, 
3108/ 



the pleadings were adjusted, the demurrers and pleas all made in 
the United States court. There was a United States attorney 
there, too, yet the Senator from Connecticut said that in this 
matter there was no representative oi the Government. It is a 
matter of record that the United States did make application for 
the confi.scation in the United States court at Nashville, Tenn.,in 
the court held by Judges Catron and Trigg. 

The case remained there until November, 1865, when it was 
dismissed, which dismissal evidenced that it was nonconfiscable 
and had been wrongfully seized. 

General Thomas issued an order, however, as I said, in Decem- 
ber, IS'o^. to fhke possession of this property and use it as a print 
ing oifice for the Army. He based the order upon the fact that 
the property had been confiscated, when in point of fact it was 
only in process of confiscation and there had been no judgaiint 
and no decree, and ai^pointed his own staff officer, Major Wills, 
to tal:e charge of it. 

He went there, and they had no chance to move anything, for 
the property was taken upon three hours' notice. The otificer 
who took charge under General Tliomas's order fortunately lives 
anil was recently appointed postmaster in a city in my State, 
where he lives yet. He took charge of the property, saw its con- 
dition, the condition of the machinery, of the papers, the books, 
the bindery, and everj^thing connected with the establishment, 
and it was a large establishment. The proofs show it was a large 
building, a part of it seven stories high: that it fronted HO feet on 
the public sijuare and 120 feet on another street, being the most 
valuable jiroperty in the city, and that it was mere than 2i)0 feet 
deep and was filled with material and machinery. There was 
some valuable iron machinery, as shown by the record, which was 
removed and virtuallv destroyed. 

Mr. ALLISON. What was the date of General Thomas's order? 

Mr. BATE. 1 will give you the date: December 13. lSti3. 

Mr. CULLOM. That is the letter of Colonel Wills? 

Mr. BATE. Yes. The letter of Colonel Wills, which I am about 
to read, was dated December 27. 1897. He had given an affidavit 
to the same effect in 1872. He says: 

I do not hesitate to reiterate that the saving to the United States Govern- 
ment through the use of this publishing house, for the purpose stated, was 
very large — in fact, immense. 

It should be borne in mind that the force with which 1 was called upon to 
operate this publishing house was composed largely of soldiers detailed from 
the service, and it is therefore not surprising that serious damage should 
have resulted in hurriedly handling such a large plant and fine machinery 
with comparatively raw aud inexperienced men. 

I am informed that a bill for the relief of this publishing house is now 
pending; and while I considered the claim for the amount originally pre- 
sented- -to wit, $457,1.50 — as large, I am fully persuaded that the .sum of 

$:i,SS.(KK)— 

That is the sum named here — 
agreed upon l)y the several committees of Congress, is not excessive, and that 
compensation in this sum ought not to be longer withheld. 

There you have the statement of the officer who had charge of the 
matter. I have here also the statement of Mr. Abbej-, the secre- 
tary and financial agent. The point has been made here that there 
were no loyal men interested in this institution. Mr. Abbey was 
known to be a loyal man. and what does he say? He is the man who 
had charge of the whole business until seir^ed by military order, and 
I have his statement here. It is clear and conclusive, and can be 
read by any Senator who may desire to do so. Mr. Abbey was 
the agent of the Book Agents of the Methodist Episcopal Church 
South. He was a loyal man from the begiiming — a Union man. 
3108 



013 701 787 8 



I saj' further, I have here, but will not detain the Senate by 
rearling it, the report or rather the statement of the committee 
which looked after this intert^st for the chiirch. they being mem- 
bers of the local Methodist Church. Dr. William H. Morgan as 
chairman submitted it, along with Judge E. H. East and Judge 
James Whitworth, All these were then, as they are now, citi- 
zens of Nashville, whose loyalty to the Federal Government was 
not questioned. Dr. Morgan is one of the most eminent of his 
profession. Judge Whitworth f(^r years had charge of the county 
finances, and conducted them with utmost good faith and suc- 
cess. Judge E. H. East was loyal enough to be the private, con- 
fidential secretarj' of Andrew Johnson while military governor 
of Tennessee, and also while President of the United States. He 
was chancellor of the district, and a most worthy, conscientious, 
Christian gentleman he is. 

Nashville is my home, Mr. President, and I personally know 
these gentlemen. Hence I take the liberty of making these per- 
sonal allusions. 

Mr. HOAR. Will the Senator state to the Senate as to the 
I)revalence of people belonging to the Northern Methodist Church 
in East Tennessee? 

Mr. BATE. My understanding is, as the Senator from Massa- 
chusetts wants my understanding, that two-thirds, and probably 
tlu-ee-fourths, of all those m E.;st Tennessee belong to the Northern 
Methodist Chiirch. but there are numbers also there who belong to 
the Southern Methodist Church; in other parts of the State it is the 
reverse, but in the city where I live they have a Northern Methodist 
Church, and so in all the other cities of Middleand West Tennessee. 

I want to say in this conne(;ti(m that this fund is to be dis- 
tributed to all alike, to the Northei-n Church and the Southern 
Church, to the Republicans and Democrats and Pcpulists and 
Prohibitionists— all ai e treated alike. It goes to the poor, broken- 
down, superannuated Methodist iireachers; and it can not be 
diverted into any other channel, because the organic law of the 
church forbids it. 

Mr. TILLMAN. Before the Senator takes his seat I should 
like him to tell us what he knows about the disposition of this 
money, and whether the attorneys are to get any of it. 

Mr. iBATE. I take pleasure in saying that as I heard such a 
rumor whispered around yesterday or the day before, I received 
a dispatch, as also did the chairman of the subcommittee of the 
Committee on Claims, from Barbee and Smith, who are the head 
of the concern, stating that tiiere was not a word of truth in the 
statement that the fund was to be diverted in any such way. A 
great de d of work has l)een done about this case, but this is a 
grand, great church, and the country is full of sympathy for it: and 
men of intelligence want to see this church sustained; and they 
think the claim a i)roi)er and just one, and that it should be paid. 

Mr. TILLMAN. Then the money is to go to the church, and 
not to attorneys'? 

Mr. BATE. It is to go to the chiirch. and it is to become a part 
of the plant, if I may so speak, and the proceeds of it are to be 
given over to these unfortunate preachers. That is the way of it. 

Now, Mr. President, I am just upon the threshold of the facts 
in this case, for they are numerouj ; l)ut the hour is late and I do 
not want to detain the Senate;, and we want to get a vote this 
evening. If, however, there is any (]uestion desired to be asked 
by any h enator, I will take ])le;isure in answerin^^ it; otherwise I 
propose to now leave the matter to the Senate. 
3106 C" 




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